The Boys

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Since I can't start phase 2 of my kitchen renovation until Labor Day weekend (and it will probably take an extra Sunday or two to get it done) I decided to focus on the bedroom my two older boys share. You may recall that it used to have a large cut out over looking the entryway downstairs.The wall has long been finished, textured and painted on both sides, but I never quite got around to decorating. Once they had their privacy and the room had their creature comforts, they were content.

I was not.

But then we had the bathroom renovation upstairs. The holidays rolled around. The Teen's room was looking bad. And so my boys room went on the back burner. Until now!

While there are two boys sharing a room, the younger of the two will be happy as long as the final choice allows him to keep his beloved Moose. My older son, MJR, is MUCH pickier!!! I started by discussing theme's with him. Nothing I suggested appealed to him -surfer, skater, nature, cars, music....nothing! He doesn't look too many patterns. He's picky on the color. He doesn't want anything that would appear juvenile (which encompassed a WIDE range of things I never would have thought of, including sports - go figure). Basically a "theme" was completely out. So while surfing Houzz I came across the above photo, and while there is some plaid in it (plaid was out!) I know that he really likes the color orange and it would work for my other son as well. So when I show him this, he agreed - minus the headboard, the rug, and the plaid sheets. Because what he really liked was that stupid orange wall.

Usually once I have an inspiration photo, I'm good to go. I started with bedding. My boys have twin beds that The Builder made them. I'm not changing beds, so those have to stay. I found a great orange plaid bedding set that I thought would look fabulous and had the write colors. To which MJR promptly but the kibosh on - he loves orange. He does not love plaid. More specifically, he doesn't just want the orange wall, he wants the room in THAT photo. Of course.

I did start by looking at quilts in a dark color to re-create that look. But the reality is, I'm working on a space for two, not one. I'm concerned two dark quilts in a space that is no that big to begin with will make it look smaller. So after two days of showing him multiple options, we decided to tweak the color palette a bit and it started with this comforter:

Pay no attention to the second set of colors shown. Apparently when you save it, it gives you both. I'm not sure the Roycott Copper Red is the right color for the accent wall. While we do want a rust color, that's too close to red. There are three shades that I'm debating on Behr's web site. Summer Heat, New Penny, and Glowing Fire. Once the comforter and the curtains arrive, I'll have a better idea which one is the right one for this room. Here's a peak at the design board for this room:

The Breakdown:

The desk will have to be built. The one on the design board is $1500 and I want two. Clearly, that's not an option, but this is something The Builder can copy with ease. I figure two desks will cost a total of $250 (some of the flanges and fittings are pricier than you would think).

The Keep Calm and Love Moose we already have. The Moose Love should be simple to re-create with my Silhouette, as will the hoop art in far less girl colors. I like the marquee light in the desk photo, so I think I'll do one for each desk. Again, plenty of tutorials on Pinterest for that!

I went with energy efficient curtains. The boys room is on the sunny side of the house in the afternoon and that room cooks! We have cheap, faux wood blinds and they look like nice, but they do nothing to help cool the room. I bought the curtains online and they have excellent reviews, but I'll have to see how they work in the room.

The lamp is from Ikea. They're $30 a piece. Again, very reasonable. The same with the tractor style desk chair. I found this one at Walmart.com and it mimics the one in the inspiration desk photo.

I really debated putting some nice decorative pillows on their beds. And when they're older, maybe I will. But for now, I'm going to hold off since they rarely make their beds. I'm not sure about a rug yet.

MJR has a big blank wall on his side of the room that I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with. Also I'm going to need artwork above his bed since his brother will have his moose artwork above his. But those things will be worked out once the paint has been chosen and we get things going.